1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a distribution medium. More particularly, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a distribution medium, which are suitable for use when, for example, an application program which operates under a predetermined OS (operating system) is installed.
2. Description of the Related Art
In computers, generally, various application programs are executed under the control of a predetermined OS.
Generally, application programs are dependent on the OS, and there are cases in which application programs operate only with an OS of a predetermined version. Therefore, when a certain application program is installed, usually, an installer confirms whether or not the application program is compatible with the OS which has already been installed and installs the application program only when the compatibility has been confirmed, that is, only when the application program is of a version which can be operated with the OS which has already been installed in the computer.
However, in general, the installer determines the compatibility between an application program and the OS by, for example, referring to the version of the application program as designated in the application program. Therefore, if an erroneous description of the version is made by the provider of the application program, an application program which is not compatible with the OS will be installed, and the computer may not operate or may malfunction.
An object of the present invention, which has been achieved in view of the above circumstances, is to make it possible to prevent, for example, installation of an application program which is not compatible with the OS which is installed currently.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus, comprising: computation means for assuming an information code of one code word to represent the entirety of both first and second computer programs and computing a total check code which is a check code for the information code; and attaching means for attaching the total check code to the second computer program.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing method, comprising the steps of: assuming an information code of one code word to represent the entirety of both first and second computer programs and computing a total check code which is a check code for the information code; and attaching the total check code to the second computer program.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a distribution medium, which is obtained by assuming an information code of one code word to represent the entirety of both first and second computer programs and computing a total check code which is a check code for the information code, and attaching the total check code to the second computer program.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus, comprising: determination means for determining compatibility between a second computer program and the computer program which has already been stored in the storage means on the basis of the check code attached to the second computer program when the second computer program dependent on a first computer program is distributed; and storage control means for causing the second computer program to be stored in the storage means on the basis of the determination result of the determination means.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing method comprising the steps of: when a second computer program dependent on a first computer program is distributed, determining compatibility between the second computer program and the computer program which has already been stored in storage means for storing a computer program on the basis of a check code attached to the second computer program; and causing the second computer program to be stored in the storage means on the basis of the determination result.
In the information processing apparatus in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention, the computation means assumes an information code of one code word to represent the entirety of both first and second computer programs which are dependent on each other and computes a total check code which is a check code for the information code, and attaching means attaches the total check code to the second computer program.
In the information processing method in accordance with the second aspect of the present invention, an information code of one code word is assumed to represent the entirety of both the first and second computer programs and a total check code which is a check code for the information code is computed, and the total check code is attached to the second computer program.
In the distribution medium in accordance with the third aspect of the present invention, a distribution medium is distributed, which is obtained by assuming an information code of one code word to represent the entirety of both the first and second computer programs and computing a total check code which is a check code for the information code, and by attaching the total check code to the second computer program.
In the information processing apparatus in accordance with the fourth aspect of the present invention, determination means determines compatibility between a second computer program and a computer program which has already been stored in the storage means in accordance with a check code attached to the second computer program when the second computer program dependent on a first computer program is distributed; and storage control means causes the second computer program to be stored in the storage means on the basis of the determination result of the determination means.
In the information processing method in accordance with the fifth aspect of the present invention, when a second computer program dependent on a first computer program is distributed, a determination is made as to compatibility between the second computer program and the computer program which has already been stored in the storage means for storing a computer program on the basis of a check code attached to the second computer program, and the second computer program is stored in the storage means on the basis of the determination result.
The above and further objects, aspects and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.